Preferred Citation note

Biographical/Historical note

Howard McCord was born on November 3, 1932, in El Paso, Texas. After a hitch in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, he returned to El Paso and attended Texas Western College receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business. The following year he received a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Utah. In 1960, he began teaching at Washington State University offering courses in Poetry and Eastern Civilizations. He also began the graduate program in Creative Writing. In 1965 he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship which allowed him to travel extensively in India and Nepal and study for a year at the University of Mysore. In 1971, he was appointed Professor of English and Director of the MFA program at Bowling Green State University. The North Carolina Poetry Circuit selected him as visiting poet for the fall of 1971, and he gave readings at campuses throughout the state. Besides his studies in India, he also traveled through Iceland and published a book of poetry about his trip. His published works include poems in over 15 collections of poetry, as well as inclusion in numerous journals and monographs. From 1960 to 1977 his Tribal Press published many works of poetry in various formats.

Scope and Contents note

Arrangement note

The initial papers are arranged in six series: Correspondence; Manuscripts; Published works in Journals; Monographs by McCord; Monographs by Others; and Ephemeral Publications. The first series, Correspondence, is arranged in alphabetical order by the subject of the correspondence or with the subject being the correspondent in keeping with McCord's original order. Most of the subjects are people that McCord had dealings with. The series of Manuscript Poetry consists of mostly typed poems, many with handwritten notes. These are arranged alphabetically by title of the piece. The third series consists of serials in which McCord's poems were published. This series is arranged in alphabetical order by the title of the serial. The fourth series, Monographs by Howard McCord, consists of books by McCord arranged alphabetically by title. Monographs by Others contains books by others that McCord usually had something to with (i.e. editor or publisher). The last series, Ephemeral Publications, consists of works, such as broadsides or poetry postcards, these works are arranged alphabetically by title. The last three works were placed in Box 8 because they are oversized pieces that would not fit in the series where they belonged. Additional material was later annexed to the collection and is arranged in two series: Correspondence and Poems, and Miscellaneous Files.

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

The papers of Howard McCord were purchased by the Washington State University Libraries from Howard McCord in 1978, 1980, and 1981 (MS 78-43, MS 80-5, MS 81-35). Additional material was annexed to the collection at an unknown date between 1990 and 2004.

----, v. 2, nos. 1-2.
The, Nihilist 's Lesson: For Gus and
A Note On Order, On Time Fall 1972

7

263

Trace, v. 6, no. 6.
The Vision Of Rumpelstiltskin 1966

7

264

Tractor, no. 6.
Howard McCord A the Prayer Of the Heliotrope 1975

7

265

Tree, no. 5.
A Hymn Or Letter To the Lady Summer 1975

7

266

Trellis, no. 2.
About the Old Beast; and
Eight Poems From The Old Beast including:
Old Beast Talk,
The Old Beast Dreams,
The Old Beast Heals a Paralytic,
The Old Beast After Supper,
The Childhood Of the Old Beast,
The Old Beast On Retreat,
Sermon In Jacksonville and
The Old Beast Gives Advice Spring 1975

7

267

University of Portland Review, v. XVIII, no. 2.
The Wisdom Of Silenus: Myth In the Modern World Fall 1966

7

268

----, v. XIX, no. 2.
Out Fall 1967

7

269

W.S.U. News Bulletin.
The Plight Of the Renegade Thinker February 25, 1966

Where, no. 1.
The Existence Of Augustine: A Counterplaint With Raniel Long Summer 1966

7

272

Which Way, no. 1.
Call,
Consumation,
Critical Histories,
Flying,
Just Past,
A Lesson In Famous Chemists,
Menestor Of Sybaris: His Fragment,
The Observations Of Benjamin Syke,
Ode and Entracte For Timon Of Athens,
On Fallacies,
On Energy,
Poem For an Older Child,
Purity Of Heart Is To Will One Thing,
Ragnarok,
The Sanctuary Of Meed,
Some Music,
3 Words, 2 Dates, 1 Direction,',
Two Lives and
Two Poems Of Wounds Spring 1975

7

273

Writers In Residence, no. 5.
What He Is Saying On One Greek Island (Two copies-one for review.) Fall 1975